Cai worth the $$

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Sled Freak

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Hemi 5.7
Looking for some input on cai for my 16 hemi ram. What's the best system for the $? Is there any real gains for these engines? I would love a tune but not for the cost, so it would be just the cai for now. Or any other performance mods i should consider that won't brake the bank?

I find this truck kind of lazy compared to my 08 I had with a tune and cai. I'm sure if you'd line the 2 up the 16 would pull away, but seat of the pants comparison the 08 felt snappier. I have a feeling the transmission is the issue more then the engine so looking for suggestions.

16 ram 1500 CC 08 ram 1500 QC
5.7L 5.7L
8spd 5sp
3.92 3.92
Stock CAI and Superchips tune

And on a side note the fuel mileage is only slightly better on the 16, which I'm a little disappointed in.

Thoughts or suggestions??
 

brandonjansen

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Realistically you aren't going to gain much if any horsepower from only a CAI. They're mostly for looks, sounds, or ease of maintenance. The stock intake on a Ram is already a CAI and flows more than enough air for a stock truck. If you want to stay on the cheaper side you can simply drop an S&B or AEM filter into the stock airbox and call it good.

If you do want to upgrade S&B, Volant, or Vararam are the only ones worth looking at as all other systems are less of a CAI than the stock setup.
 

Witch

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you can upgrade the exhaust reasonably , not convinced there is a lot there other than sound though

I would save for a tuner, They set mine up nice and the throttle response is excellent compared to stock

it is a lot of cash though, maybe put it on the Xmas list
 

jag1886

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CAI is worth it if you are going to do some other add ons to go with it, if not I'd just upgrade the filter to a K&N or one of the many others like a K&N.
 

Bullitt5339

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If you view it as a visual modification, it's worth the money. If you look at horsepower per dollar, the answer is no.
 

HemiLonestar

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Only one word...Vararam!

Your setup looks like a 4th gen vararam fed by an SRT hood, which is EXACTLY what I was planning on lol. Already have the setup, just haven't had time to set it up. Nice!
 

Tray Burge

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Your setup looks like a 4th gen vararam fed by an SRT hood, which is EXACTLY what I was planning on lol. Already have the setup, just haven't had time to set it up. Nice!

Thank you and yes it is a 4th gen set-up re-engineered to fit my 3rd gen with a custom made snorkel to feed it. I would like to go with a 6-pack hood that directly feeds it.
 

HemiLonestar

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Thank you and yes it is a 4th gen set-up re-engineered to fit my 3rd gen with a custom made snorkel to feed it. I would like to go with a 6-pack hood that directly feeds it.

Looks awesome, do you have any close up pics?
 

Tray Burge

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Sure.
 

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Pull Ya

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I agree with what others have said. I have a Vararam, I like it, it looks nice, it sounds good and it fits well into the group of other bolt on's that you can do ie; tuner, headers, etc etc etc. Will it, by itself, make your truck do wheel stands and push you back in the seat and make your eyes bug out---NOPE. It's a great compliment to the other mod's you do on your truck. You probably get less than 10 rear wheel hp from it stand alone.
Jay
 

ST-8

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If you can get your hands on ramhammer or Bfi that would get my vote lol but I'm biased
 

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Pull Ya

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The decal makes up the difference :naughty::naughty:
Jay
 

Tray Burge

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Thanks, very nice! Did you fab the piece that goes down in front of the rad?
Sorry about that, I got logged off and couldn't get back in yesterday. But, yes, "hemilonestar" I did make the snorkel using the lost foam method and here are the pictures as I went along in stages, if interested. I apologize in advance to those that have been bored with these already.
1st -picture shows the foam after painstakingly shaping it.
2nd -is after I covered it with fiberglass and resin and melting out the foam.
3rd -showing installed vararam and the relocation of the overflow tank, I also had to increase the seal to reach the bottom of my hood. I also had to manufacture an 90 degree elbow that would go around my AC lines.
The snorkel is held in with "mini hood push button" release pens so it can be removed quickly (the silver circles shown on snorkel in previous shots).
It has just enough flex to move with the engine, yet very sturdy and has been in over a year without any problem, cracking or deteriation, very happy.
 

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Last edited:

RR7_905RAM

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^Nice set up Tray!

I didn't care what an intake cost or how much faster my truck would be. All the cool kids were doing it so that was good enough for me!
 
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